Textiles Race For Safety

NASCAR and textiles flourish in the Southeast but the link is more than geographic.

Cover StoryBy Steve Goldberg Textiles Race For Safety
NASCAR and textiles flourish in the Southeast but the link is more than geographic.Ned,
help me. Im burning! The plaintive cry came from the overturned racecar of Glenn Fireball Roberts,
one of NASCARs first true heroes, as he lay trapped with fuel pouring out into an already raging
fire.Roberts, whose ironic nickname came from his baseball pitching prowess, was burned on over 60
percent of his body. Amazingly, he survived the fire until pneumonia claimed him six weeks later.In
1964, a race drivers uniform might have been a pair of white jeans and a T-shirt soaked in a
fire-retardant solution, perhaps a light jacket and a helmet that wouldnt be allowed on a
construction site today. Hill Overton, a longtime radio journalist, vividly remembers when Roberts
Ford got tangled up with Ned Jarrett and Junior Johnson and careened through the fence at the
second turn of the Charlotte Motor Speedway during the World 600.Roberts didnt have the protection
of a rubber bladder in the fuel cell or a sealing ball that keeps the gas from pouring back out the
fill intake on an overturned car. And he didnt have anything close to the fire suit that protects
drivers today. Spirit Of Innovation

Bill Simpson was only trying to save his own skin in 1958 after his hurtling car wouldnt slow
down and drove off the end of a dragstrip. When he got out of the hospital, he borrowed an idea
from the Air Force and proceeded to put a parachute on the back of his dragster to help stop it.The
idea worked, other drivers liked it and suddenly it was a business. Today, Simpsons operation,
headquartered in Mooresville, N.C., has grown and provides suits and accessories for drivers and
crews in different sectors of racing.In 1963 at the Pomona Fairgrounds, Simpson had just made a
pass and was standing at the end of the dragstrip by his car. The next instant would change his
life forever and affect many to come.Here comes a car that blew up under the lights and the fellow
who was driving, a kid named Chuck Brandon, burned to death, Simpson remembers.At that point in
time we wore Bardahl jackets just a silk jacket with a T-shirt underneath and jeans. The next week
he went to a welding supply company and quizzed them about the shiny suits that the guys working in
foundries had.He bought one of the bulky outfits, made of aluminized rayon by 3M and took it back
to his race shop. He gave it to Mary Walker, his first employee, who is still with him today. She
modified the suit as best as possible.It was very uncomfortable to wear, but I thought, man, this
thing would really work, Simpson said.The third time he wore it, the same thing that took the life
of Chuck Brandon happened to Simpson. His engine blew, causing a nasty oil fuel fire and the bulky,
uncomfortable suit did exactly what he expected it to do. He started buying more welding suits and
modifying them for drivers. When his supplier balked at improving the process, Simpson went
directly to 3M to get the materials and started cutting and sewing the suits himself.By 1967,
Simpson had moved from dragsters to sports car racing. One of his racing buddies happened to be
Pete Conrad, the astronaut who would fly Apollo 12 to the moon two years later. Conrad told him
about a new material by DuPont, a high-temperature nylon used for the parachutes of the space
capsules on re-entry.Simpson was excited about the new material and asked the Gemini and Apollo
pilot if he could help procure some of it to experiment with. Conrad, who had to be empathetic to
Simpsons cause after losing three colleagues in an Apollo I test fire, agreed.He got me some
yardage and we produced a fire suit out of it, Simpson said. It was a first-generation Nomex®. We
did two layers of that, and then behind that we put a batting in and a couple of more layers. We
put it on my partner and put a torch to it and he stood there for almost 30 seconds. And that
started the new generation of fire suits.Simpson, who dropped out of school after the eighth grade,
says that race drivers were a wild bunch of people in the 70s, unlike today where the business side
has changed everything.You werent looked on with high esteem; you were looked at like you were some
kind of outlaw.Even as part of that wild bunch, when Simpson went to compete in the Indianapolis
500 in 1970, he had a difficult time convincing his fellow drivers Bobby Unser, Johnny Rutherford,
A.J. Foyt, among others of his suits capabilities.In those days, burn prevention was less
scientific. Simpson says most drivers wore dipped cotton a solution of 25 percent borax and 75
percent water drip-dried on a hanger.Im not so sure that they didnt believe it, but when I finally
said, Hey, Im tired of talking to you guys. Im going to set myself on fire and then Im all done. If
you think it does what I say it does, then fine, you can buy my stuff. If you dont think it does
that, then dont buy my stuff. And dont bother me any more. And thats what I did.Simpson had to take
dramatic action to get his point across to drivers he politely calls stubborn. To make good on his
promise, he walked over to a fence away from the pits, doused himself with gasoline and someone lit
the match. Impressed with his bravado, Foyt took the opportunity to cook a hot dog over the burning
Simpson.All 33 drivers in the Indy 500 that year were wearing Simpson fire suits. Turning Up
The Heat Measuring How Hot It Really GetsIts not the temperature, but the energy flow released upon
the surface that causes injury, said Tom Neal, a senior research associate at DuPonts Nomex
division.That energy is measured in calories per centimeter squared per second. For example, he
says, the hottest point of a cigarette lighter would be about one calorie (approximately
1,850°F).Nomex is an aramid fiber that closes and thickens under heat, which adds to the fibers
protective qualities. Those protective qualities are measured by Thermal Protection Performance
(TPP), an insulation value rating that determines how long it takes to see an onset of
second-degree burns. To calculate the rating, both radiant energy and direct flame are measured.
Numbers Tell The StorySimpson suits come with TPP ratings from 6 to 35, and these numbers are
improved with the use of Nomex underwear, headsocks and socks. By comparison, a firefighters gear
has a TPP rating of about 35.A rough estimate, and those used by the SFI Foundation, would be that
approximately half of the TPP rating or double the SFI rating is the time in seconds of protection
afforded before a second-degree burn would occur. SFI rates protective clothing at 1, 3, 5, 10, 15
or 20. The non-profit organization was established to issue and administer standards for racing and
performance automotive equipment. -S.G. The Name Is Nomex

DuPont says Nomex was developed for applications requiring dimensional stability and
excellent heat resistance. It is available in fiber form (continuous filament and staple) and sheet
form (paper and pressboard).Along with protective apparel, Nomex products are used in hot gas
filtration, automotive hoses, electrical insulation, aircraft parts and sporting goods. Nomex
fibers consist of long, rigid molecular chains produced from poly-metaphenylene diamine. It does
not flow or melt upon heating. Decomposition and charring does not proceed at a significant rate
until well over 350ºC without melting, and Nomex is both chemically and thermally very stable.Most
race suits actually use Nomex IIIA, which is 5-percent Kevlar, adding strength and break-open
resistance, according to Scott Margolin, a marketing executive for DuPonts Nomex division.Nomex III
has a lot of things going for it that other fibers dont, claims Simpson. One, its fabrication
ability; two, its utility value, how well it wears; three, its dyeability; four, its comfort; and
five, its availability. All that together puts Nomex at the top of the list as a choice for a
fire-suit fabric.Simpson suits come in a bright, shiny filament Nomex with a stretchy knit fabric,
breathable with a relaxed fit; a matte finish gabardine Nomex III, a woven fabric with limited
stretch and a starched feel; or a Sateen Nomex with a semi-shiny finish, a woven fabric with
limited stretch and a soft feel. Time To Escape

How long does a driver have when everything hits the fan According to NASCAR Busch Series
racer Mike Laughlin, its 19 seconds.I had 19 seconds; thats all I needed to save my life. He
survived a spectacular inferno when his car, less than one lap into a race at Homestead, Florida,
was tapped from behind at about 130 mph coming out of turn four, spun around and backed into the
wall super hard. It ruptured the fuel cell, which was full.The car slammed the wall, did a couple
of 360s, spinning in the ignited fuel. Laughlin says he saw the flames and was already unbuckling
his belts and pulling off the steering wheel before the car stopped moving.I was in the actual fire
for 19 seconds; the suit had done a super job, Laughlin said. I mean it just saved my life. The
fuel was inside the car, it was just everywhere. It was unbelievable how calm you actually are when
something like that happens. It took place in 19 seconds, but it felt like you had forever to sit
there and think about it and what you need to do to get out of the car. His injuries were limited
to severe burns to his hands he wasnt wearing gloves and second-degree burns to his neck because he
wasnt wearing a headsock. He was also burned at the ankle where his double-layer suit pulled away
from his protective driving boots. Laughlin says the burn damage to his hands stops right at the
sleeve of his suit, comparing it to a tan line. It was right to the limit on that suit, he
said.Winston Cup driver Steve Grissom remembers crashes at Dover and New Hampshire where the fuel
pump came loose in a wreck and flames engulfed his car. He says that there is a lot to think about,
getting the net down, the steering wheel off, the radio disconnected.I knew I had the time to calm
down and get out of the car like normal, Grissom said. Without a doubt, its given me confidence in
the situations Ive been in where fires been involved. You dont have to panic and it gives you time
to get out of the car safely.Grissom wears a two-layer Simpson suit with underwear, gloves, shoes
the works. Each layer gives you that much more time.Laughlin wasnt wearing Nomex underwear in his
crash. I didnt have them on at the time but I definitely do now.Margolin reinforces the need for
Nomex underwear: The key is to not wear anything meltable such as cotton/poly blend underwear. It
doesnt matter if the suit protects you if the clothing underneath is melting.Most NASCAR drivers
wear a two- or three-layer suit. Simpson says that more than 70 percent of driving suits are custom
made to order, the minority of his sales in standard suits going to entry-level drivers. Suit
ConstructionThe first step in building a drivers suit is the measurements. Measurements are taken
in person by Simpson staff that travel the country servicing different race series and teams or
sent in by the customer with 12 different measurements from neck to cuff. There are 12 design
options in the current catalog, along with a number of styling options available for collars and
cuffs, pockets, arm and back gussets, epaulets and, of course, the all-important embroidery.The
embroidery (embroidery to a drivers suit is like decals to his car almost every available space is
sold) is actually done before the material for the suit is cut. Simpson uses a variety of the
newest Barudan 15-head and single-head machines to decorate the working clothes of the speed demons
and their crews. Each head has nine colors of thread, offering a racing rainbow of choices.The
measurements are fed into a computerized Gerber Accumark from Gerber Technology that can plot to
paper for hand cutting or directly to an automatic cutting machine. Simpson uses a Gerber Cutting
Edge, a low-ply (three at a time) cutter, 36 feet long and 72 inches wide. The system organizes
patterns for minimum waste.At the start of the season, a Winston Cup or Busch series level driver
may order anywhere from four to 10 suits. If a large number are requested, the necessary layers are
cut with a round knife, more like a precision 5.25-inch circular saw.The uniforms are then quilted
as specified, along with any striping or custom trim. For added protection, all seams are double-
and triple-stitched in stress areas, and the interior seams are overlocked and stitched flat for
comfort. To prevent separation, all suit fabric ends are matched, folded and interlocked
stitched. The Future Is Now

This month at the Daytona 500 Simpson will introduce his next innovation in driver safety,
again in an exclusive partnership with DuPont. They will introduce a first look at the use of
Kapton®, a polyimide film that they are working to develop into a fiber and that Simpson says has,
in preliminary testing, shown tremendous capabilities in fire protection and a significant
improvement over Nomex alone.Kapton will never take the place of Nomex and its not intended to do
that, Simpson added. What it will do is act as backup to it, another layer of insulating
material.Thermo-Man®, an instrumented mannequin with 122 sensors, created by DuPont in the 70s to
test protective clothing for military pilots, will take Bill Simpsons place for the barbecue
demonstration this time as they compare a Kapton-reinforced suit to the current Nomex-only
design.Harry Gumm, a development consultant for DuPont, is working with Simpson on the Kapton
project. We are taking the knowledge gained from aerospace and bringing it to fabrics and fibers
and microproducts, he said.He stresses the need to balance a wide variety of properties, including
thermal conductivity, smoke generation and dexterity. Gumm says that on the Limited Oxygen Index
(LOI) measurement scale of flame resistance, Kapton shows a remarkable difference, scoring 37,
while by comparison, Kevlar is rated at 29 and Nomex at 30.In other uses, such as insulation and
parts, DuPont says Kapton polyimide film has been used successfully in various applications at
temperatures ranging from -269ºC to 400ºC and has excellent abilities to maintain its properties in
harsh environments.As long as NASCAR and the NHRA (National Hot Rod Association) dont expand the
schedule to include the Jupiter 500 or the Martian Winternationals any time soon, those ranges
shouldnt be tested.It wont stop with the drivers suit. Simpson and his team are salivating with
ideas for the versatile Kapton. Along with other racing applications, other end-uses are on the
horizon.Were going into the industrial safety equipment business in a big way, Simpson said. When
you find a new fiber or fabric or a new something and you try it and it works, it just moves the
bar up a little bit. And the bar has moved up so much in the past 20 years that if you started on
the floor it would go through the top of the ceiling.